How to hear accent in East Cree

You will normally hear one accent per word in East Cree. In order to hear accent in East Cree, you should be listening for a combination of pitch and loudness, but not length.

An example of pitch is the difference between [ do ] and [ re ] in the song “Doe, a deer, a female deer; Ray, a drop of golden sun…” or the difference between all the ‘words’ in the song [ do re mi fa so la ti do ].

An example of loudness is the difference between pronouncing a vowel so quietly that only the person next to you can hear it, and pronouncing it so loudly that someone across the street can hear it.

When East Cree vowels are accented, they sound higher-pitched than any other vowel in the word. They can also sound louder, although they don’t have to. Listen carefully to the following words; the only reliable difference between each pair of words is which vowel has higher pitch:

Northern

Non-final accent (singular)

Final accent (plural)

Translation

ᐊᓯᓃ

asinii

ᐊᓯᓃᐦ

asiniih

stone, stones

ᒥᔅᒋᓯᓐ

mischisin

ᒥᔅᒋᓯᓐᐦ

mischisinh

shoe, shoes

ᒨᔥᑲᒦ

muushkamii

ᒨᔥᑲᒦᐦ

muushkamiih

broth, broths

ᓃᐱᓰ

niipisii

ᓃᐱᓰᐦ

niipisiih

willow, willows

ᐙᐳᔭᓐ

waapuyan

ᐙᐳᔭᓐᐦ

waapuyanh

blanket, blankets

Southern

Non-final accent (singular)

Final accent (plural)

Translation

ᑲᐸᑦ

kapat

ᑲᐸᑦᐦ

kapath

cupboard, cupboards

ᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐ

muuhkumaan

ᒨᐦᑯᒫᓐᐦ

muuhkumaanh

knife, knives

ᐎᔮᑲᓐ

wiyaakan

ᐐᔮᑲᓐᐦ

wiyaakanh

plate, plates

ᒥᐦᑑᑲᐃ

mihtuukai

ᒥᐦᑑᑲᐃᐦ

mihtuukaih

ear, ears

Accented vowels in English are different from accented vowels in East Cree in one major respect: English accented vowels are often longer in duration than unaccented ones. For example, the accented [ oʊ ] sound in below is longer than the unaccented [oʊ] sound in billow. The accented [ oʊ ] in below takes up about 6/10 of the duration of the entire word; in contrast, the unaccented [ oʊ ] sound in billow takes up only 4/10 of the duration of the entire word.

In contrast, length is independent of accent (pitch/loudness) in East Cree. To illustrate, in the following examples, the accent (highest pitch) is on the first vowel, which is lax and short, not on the second vowel, which is tense and longer. For illustration, the pitch of each word has been reproduced in carrier ‘duh’ [ dʌ ] syllables .

In summary, English speakers have a tendency to hear accent when vowels are longer, since vowel duration is a cue for accent in English. However, the length of East Cree vowels is independent of accent: we cannot say that accented vowels are necessarily longer than unaccented ones in East Cree.